F-U, 


sion 
Section 


■RXVI.  No.  1. 


NEW  ENGL  A 
MAGAZINE 


Published  Monthly  by  the 

AMERICA    COMPANV 

1133  Broadway  Newark  City  •  5  Park  Square  Boston  Mass 


be  New  York-  Po3t  Office 


$3.00  a  Year. 


HAND  SAPOLIO 


It  makes  the  toilet 
and  bath  something: 


moves  all  stains  and 
roughness,  prevents 
chapping:  and  leaves 
the  skin  white,  soft, 
healthy.  In  the  bath 
it  brings  a  glow  and 
exhilaration  which 
no  common  soap 
can  equal,  impart- 
ing the  vigor  and 
life  sensation  sug- 
gested by  a  mild 
turkish  bath. 


It  is  a  pure  article,      m 
free  from  animal    VI 
fats,  only  healthy    >. 
vegetable  oils  being 
used  as  a  medium. 


Excellent  for  trav- 
eler's use.  Suited 
to  the  daintiest 
skin  or  to  the  toil- 
calloused  hand. 


Should  be  on  every 
washstand. 


0 


A 


ZShe    Z5ra*Oelers 

Irvs\ira^.rvce     Gom.pak.rvy 


OF    HAR-TFOR.D.  CONN. 


WHEREIN   IT  IS    PARAMOUNT 


IN  MAGNITUDE— The  largest  Accident  Com- 
pany in  the  world. 

IN  BUSINESS— Taking  all  departments  together, 
it  has  insured  more  lives  than  any  other  com- 
pany in  the  world. 

IN  SAFETY — In  proportion  to  its  Life  Insurance 
in  force,  its  excess  security  to  policy  holders  ex- 
ceeds that  of  any  other  life  company  in  the  world- 

IN  LIBERALITY— Its  policies  are  as  liberal 
as  is  compatible  with  safety. 

IN  CHEAPNESS— No  other  company  issuing  an 
equally  liberal  life  contract,  guarantees  as  low  a 
net  cost. 

**  So  much  Insurance  for  so  much  Money/*     Nothing 
left     Indefinite.  Nothing     to     be     Misvinderstood 

Agents  in  Every  Town  


*Btiy  Insurance 
as  yoti  "Buy 
Me  rch  and  is  e — 
T5he  He  si  Possible 
for  the 
Least  Money 


2sr 


*— 


-5_»C' 


THE  BIRDS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 


IOI 


Ruby-crowned  Kinglets,  and  some- 
times White-throated  Sparrows 
appear. 

May  ist. 

About  the  ist  of  the  month  the 
Barn  Swallows,  Black  and  White 
Warblers,  Least  Flycatchers, 
Night  Hawks,  Purple  Martins, 
Solitary  Vireo,  Towhee  Buntings, 
Yellow-rump  Warblers,  and  Yel- 
low-winged Sparrows  make  their 
appearance. 

May  5th. 

The  Baltimore  Orioles,  Black- 
throated  Green  Warblers,  Catbirds, 
Chimney  Swallows,  Wilson's 
Thrushes,  Yellow  Warblers. 

May  ioth. 

Blackburnian  Warblers,  Black- 
cap Warblers,  Black-throated 
Blue  Warblers,   Parula  Warblers, 


Bobolinks,  Chestnut-sided  Warb- 
lers, Oven-birds,  Golden-winged 
Warblers,  House  Wrens,  Hum- 
ming-birds, King  birds,  Maryland 
Yellow-throats,  Nashville  Warb- 
lers, Redstarts,  Rose-breasted 
Grosbeaks,  Warbling  Vireos,  Wa- 
ter Wagtails,  Wood  Thrushes,  and 
Yellow-throated  Vireos  arrive. 

May  15th. 

The  Bay-breasted,  Magnolia, 
Black-poll,  Canadian,  and  Mourn- 
ing Warblers  arrive,  also  the  Ol- 
ive-sided Flycatchers,  Traill's  Fly- 
catchers and  White-crowned  Spar- 
rows appear. 

May  20th. 

About  the  20th  the  Tennessee 
Warblers,  the  Yellow-bellied  Fly- 
catchers and  the  Wood  Pewees 
mav  be  looked  for. 


Lark  Bunting 


r&fc  OF  PHIHG^ 
NOV  11  1932 


Z*l 


■  i  or 


\m> 


A  Century  of  Choral  Singing  in 
New  England 


By   Henrv  C.   Lahee 


THE  cause  of  music  in  New 
England  has  always  re- 
ceived its  greatest  impulse 
from  the  enthusiasm  of  men 
who,  while  posslssed  of  comparatively 
small  technical  ability  or  musical  edu- 
cation, put  the  whole  force  of  their 
souls  into  the  work  of  helping  the 
masses  of  people  to  a  higher  enjoy- 
ment of  music  than  that  in  which  they 
found  them.  Their  accomplishments 
to  this  end  must  always  be  regarded 
with  respect,  for  he  who  does  the  most 
for  the  cause  of  music  in  a  nation  is  the 
man  who  inspires  the  greatest  number 
with  a  love  for  the  art  and  a  desire  for 
some  knowledge  of  it,  and  as  choral 
singing  affords  the  surest  foundation, 
we  naturally  look  to  those  men  who 
have  been  foremost  in  its  cultivation. 

Until  the  latter  part  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  there  was  practically  no 
choral  singing  except  in  the  church, 
but  an  enthusiast  arose  who  not  only 
initiated  important  reforms  in  church 
choirs,  but  also  established  that  pecul- 
iar institution  of  olden  times  generally 
known  as  the  "singing  skewl,"  and 
who  is  said  to  have  originated,  in  New 
England,  the  concert. 

This  enthusiast  was  William  Bil- 
lings, born  in  Charlestown,  Massachu- 
setts, a  tanner  by  trade,  who  has  been 
described  as  a  mixture  of  the  ludi- 
crous, eccentric,  commonplace,  active, 
patriotic,  and  religious  elements,  with 


a  slight  touch  of  musical  and  poetic- 
talent.  He  was  deformed, — one  arm 
somewhat  withered,  one  leg  shorter 
than  the  other,  and  blind  of  one  eye, 
and  he  was  given  to  the  habit  of  con- 
tinually taking  snuff.  He  had  a  sten- 
torian voice,  drowning  that  of  every 
singer  near  him.  He  was  an  advocate 
of  the  "fuguing  tunes"  then  being  in- 
troduced into  the  country  from  Eng- 
land, and  he  wrote  many  such  tunes 
himself,  using  the  sides  of  leather  in 
his  tannery  on  which  to  work  out  his 
musical  ideas  with  a  piece  of  chalk. 
With  the  compositions  of  Billings, 
crude  as  they  were  and  amusing,  we 
have  nothing  to  do.  Let  a  single  sam- 
ple, and  that  a  poem  (  ?)  stand  for  all. 
This  verse  was  written  as  a  dedication 
ode  to  his  "New  England  Psalm 
Singer,"  published  in  1770: — 

O,  praise  the  Lord  with  one  consent. 

And  in  this  grand  design 
Let  Britain  and  the  Colonies 

Unanimously  join. 

Billings  introduced  the  bass  viol  into 
the  church  and  thus  broke  down  the 
ancient  Puritanical  prejudice  against 
musical  instruments.  He  also  was  the 
first  to  use  the  pitch  pipe  in  order  to 
ensure  some  degree  of  certainty  in 
"striking  up  the  tune"  in  church.  Bil- 
lings gradually  drifted  away  from  tan- 
ning and  became  a  singing  teacher. 
As  early  as  1774  he  began  to  teach  a 
class  at  Stoughton,  and  as  a  result  of 


A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


103 


his  labors  the  Stoughton  Musical  So- 
ciety, which  still  flourishes,  was 
formed  in  1786,  and  it  has  the  record 
of  being  the  first  musical  society  of 
Massachusetts.  The  Dartmouth,  N. 
H.,  Handel  Society  was  also  formed 
about  this  time,  and  numerous  singing 
schools  sprang  up,  for  the  example  of 
Billings  was  followed  by  others.  In- 
deed, Billings  was  able  to  impart  so 
much  enthusiasm  to  his  classes  and  he 
taught  them  to  sing  with  such  good 
swing  and  expression,  that  singing  be- 
came a  revelation  to  most  people.  He 
died  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  but  he  had  given  the  impulse 
which  has  gathered  in  force  with  each 
succeeding  year,  and  which  has  been 
carried  forward  and  increased  by  other 
enthusiasts. 

The  Massachusetts  Musical  Society 
was  formed  in  1807  with  the  same 
object  as  most  of  the  singing  societies, 
viz.,  that  of  singing  psalms  and  an- 
thems. It  was  dissolved  in  1810,  but 
in  181 5  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society 
was  formed,  and  on  December  25th  of 
that  year,  gave  a  performance  at 
King's  Chapel  in  Boston  of  the  first 
part  of  Haydn's  "Creation,"  and  airs 
and  choruses  selected  from  Handel's 
works.  The  audience  numbered  nine 
hundred  and  forty-five  and  the  verdict 
on  the  performance  was,  "Such  was 
the  excitement  of  the  hearers,  and  at- 
tention of  the  performers,  that  there  is 
nothing  to  compare  with  it  at  the 
present  day."  There  had,  however, 
been  performances  of  oratorio  in  Bos- 
ton previous  to  this,  both  in  1812  and 
1813  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Jack- 
son, the  organist,  at  that  time,  of  the 
Brattle  Street  church.  At  this  last 
performance,  in  1813,  part  of  the  Det- 
tineen   Te  Peum   and   t^o  HaUpbijah 


Chorus  were  given  by  a  choir  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  voices  and  an  or- 
chestra of  fifty  instruments,  and  the 
impulse  given  by  this  concert  undoubt- 
edly had  much  to  do  with  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society. 

Thus  within  fifteen  years  of  the 
death  of  Billings,  choral  singing,  poor 
as  it  was,  had  reached  a  much  higher 
plane  than  that  in  which  he  left  it. 
Amongst  his  most  eminent  contem- 
poraries and  successors  were  Andrew 
Law,  who  was  a  better  musician, 
though  a  man  of  less  magnetism ; 
Jacob  Kimball,  less  original  than  Bil- 
lings; Oliver  Holden,  first  a  carpenter 
and  joiner  of  Charlestown,  then 
teacher  of  singing,  composer  of  hymns 
and  fuguing  tunes,  and  later  a  pub- 
lisher ;  Samuel  Holyoke,  of  Boxford, 
teacher  of  singing,  violin,  flute  and 
clarinet;  Daniel  Read,  Timothy  Swan, 
Jacob  French,  Oliver  Shaw,  a  blind 
singer,  and  many  others,  who  all  flour- 
ished and  taught  the  "singin'  skewl." 

A  vivid  description  of  an  old  fash- 
ioned New  England  singing  school  was 
given  in  the  Musical  Visitor  for  Janu- 
ary, 1842,  by  Moses  Cheney,  an  old 
time  preacher  and  singer,  who  was 
born  in  1776.  Elder  Cheney  was  the 
progenitor  of  the  well  known  family 
of  sinsrers  of  that  name,  who  during 
the  middle  of  the  century  traveled  all 
over  the  country  giving  concerts. 

After  relating  some  incidents  of  his 
childhood.  Flder  Cheney  says : 

"We  were  soon  paraded  all  around  the 
room,  standing  up  to  a  board  supported  by 
old-fashioned  kitchen  chairs.  .  .  .  The 
master  took  his  place  inside  the  circle,  took 
out  of  his  pocket  a  paper  manuscript,  with 
rules  and  tunes  all  written  with  pen  and  ink, 
read  the  rules,  and  then  said  we  mu^t  attend 
to  the  rising  and  falling  of  the  notes.  I  shall 
now  take  the  liberty  to  call  ladies  and  gen- 


io4        A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


tlemen  and  things  just  as  they  were  called 
in  that  school,  and  I  begin  with  the  rules  as 
they  were  called,  first : 

FLATS. 

The  natural  place  for  mi  is  in  B 
But  if  B  be  flat  mi  is  in  E. 
If  B  and  E  be  flat  mi  is  in  A. 
If  B,  E,  and  A  be  flat  mi  is  in  D. 
If  B,  E,  A,  and  D  be  flat  mi  is  in  G. 

SHARPS. 

But  if  F  be  sharp  mi  is  in  F. 

If  F  and  C  be  sharp  mi  is  in  C. 

If  F,  C,  and  G  be  sharp  mi  is  in  G. 

If  F,  C,  G,  and  D  be  sharp  mi  is  in  D. 
"These  rules  as  then  called  were  all  that 
was  presented  in  ftiat  school. 

"The  books  contained  one  part  each,  bass 
books,  tenor  books,  counter  books,  and 
treble  books.  Such  as  sung  bass  had  a  bass 
book ;  he  that  sung  tenor  had  a  tenor  book ; 
he  who  sang  counter  a  counter  book,  and 
the  gals,  as  then  called,  had  treble  books. 
I  had  no  book.  With  all  these  things  before 
the  school  the  good  master  began,  'Come, 
boys,  you  must  rise  and  fall  the  notes  first 
and  then  the  gals  must  try.'  So  he  began 
with  the  oldest,  who  stood  at  the  head, — 
'Now  follow  me  right  up  and  down;  sound.' 
bo  he  sounded,  and  followed  the  master  up 
and  down  as  it  was  called.  Some  more 
than  half  could  follow  the  master.  Others 
would  go  up  two  or  three  notes  and  then 
fall  back  lower  than  the  first  note.  My 
feelings  grew  acute.  To  see  some  of  the 
large  boys,  full  twenty  years  old,  make  such 
dreadful  work,  what  could  I  do !  Great  fits 
of  laughing,  both  with  boys  and  gals,  would 
often  occur.  .  .  .  Then  the  gals  had 
their  turn  to  rise  and  fall  the  notes.  'Come, 
gals,  now  see  if  you  can't  beat  the  boys.'  So 
when  he  had  gone  through  the  gals'  side  of 
the  school  he  seemed  to  think  the  gals  had 
done  rather  the  best.  Now  the  rules  were  left 
for  tunes.  Old  Russia  was  brought  on  first. 
The  master  sang  it  over  several  times,  first 
with  the  bass,  then  with  the  tenor,  then  with 
the  counter  and  then  with  the  trebles.  Such 
as  had  notes  looked  on,  such  as  had  none 
listened  to  the  rest.  In  this  way  the  school 
went  on  through  the  winter.  A  good  num- 
ber of  tunes  were  learned  in  this  school  and 
were  sung  well  as  we  thought,  but  as  to  the 
science  of  music  very  little  was  gained. 


"At  the  close  of  the  school,  and  after 
singing  the  last  night,  we  made  a  settlement 
with  the  master.  He  agreed  'to  keep,'  as 
then  called,  for  one  shilling  and  sixpence  a 
night,  and  to  take  his  pay  in  Indian  corn  at 
three  shillings  a  bushel.  A  true  dividend 
of  the  cost  was  made  among  the  boys,  the 
gals  found  the  candles  for  their  part,  and  it 
amounted  to  thirteen  quarts  and  one  pint  of 
corn  apiece.  After  the  master  had  made 
some  good  wishes  on  us  all,  we  were  dis- 
missed and  all  went  home  in  harmony  and 
good  union." 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more 
touching  or  more  convincing  tribute  to 
the  value  of  the  singing  school  than 
that  given  by  Elder  Cheney.  "Think 
for  a  moment,"  he  says,  "a  little  boy  at 
twelve  years  of  age,  growing  up  in  the 
shade  of  the  deep  and  dense  forests  of 
New  Hampshire,  seldom  out  of  the 
sight  of  his  mother,  or  the  hearing  of 
her  voice,  never  saw  a  singing  master 
or  a  musical  note — seldom  ever  heard 
the  voice  of  any  human  being  except 
in  his  own  domestic  circle,  by  the  fire- 
side of  his  father's  humble  hearth. 
Think  of  it !  Now  he  is  a  member  of 
a  school — more,  a  singing  school ! 
Singing  the  tunes  by  note !  Singing 
'We  live  above !'  Carrying  any  part 
all  in  the  same  high  boy's  voice.  O, 
that  winter's  work.  The  foundation 
of  many  happy  days  for  more  than 
fifty  years  past.  The  master  too  !  Ah, 
that  blessed  form  of  a  man.  His  bright 
blue,  sparkling  eyes  and  his  sweet, 
angelic  voice — his  manifest  love  and 
care  for  his  pupils — everything  com- 
bined to  make  him  one  of  a  thousand." 

Then  comes  a  repetition  of  the  story 
of  Elijah  and  Elisha,  with  a  New  Eng- 
land coloring.  "Forty-three  years  ago"  ■ 
(one  hundred  and  four  years  from 
the  present  date,  for  Mr.  Cheney  wrote 
in  1841)  "or  the  winter  after  I  was 
twenty-one,    I    followed    Mr.   William 


MBM 


A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND         105 


Tenney,  the  best  instructor  I  had  ever 
found.  He  taught  every  afternoon  and 
evening  in  the  week,  Sunday  excepted. 
When  he  left  us,  he  gave  me  his  sing- 
ing book  and  wooden  pitch  pipe  and 
told  me  to  believe  I  was  the  best  singer 
in  the  world  and  then  I  should  never 
be  afraid  to  sing  anywhere.  .  .  . 
After  this  last  school,  from  the  time  of 
my  age,  twenty-one,  I  have  taught 
singing  until  I  became  fifty — that  is, 
more  or  less,  from  time  to  time." 

There  is  in  the  Religious  Monthly  of 
1861  an  acount  of  the  Oxford,  Massa- 
chusetts, singing  school,  founded  in 
1830  in  which  a  good  deal  of  human 
nature  is  revealed.  The  jealousies 
among  the  singers,  their  sarcastic  re- 
marks, at  one  another's  expense,  and 
the  oddities  of  the  teacher  are  very 
amusing.  "Fill  your  chests  and  open 
your  mouths.  Don't  squeeze  your 
mouths  as  if  you  were  going  to  whistle 
Yankee  Doodle,"  the  teacher  exclaims, 
and  then  proceeds  to  give  an  example 
of  a  thunderous  tone,  roll  it,  quaver 
and  shake  it.  Then  he  shows  the  oppo- 
site, in  mimicry  of  his  class.  Now  the 
pupils  endeavor  to  imitate  him,  and 
subject  themselves  to  the  biting  sar- 
casm of  their  fellow  pupils, — "Now 
I  understand  being  threatened  with 
lock-jaw,"  says  one.  "She  looks  as  if 
she  was  trying  to  swallow  the  uni- 
verse," another  exclaims.  But  these 
little  pleasantries  have  become  unin- 
teresting by  frequent  repetition,  and 
we  may  well  turn  to  a  later  number  of 
the  same  journal  and  glance  at  an  ac- 
count of  "a  singing  school  of  fifty 
years  ago,"  which  means  about  1820: 

"The  class  arrives  in  a  straggling  stream, 
the  meeting  being  held  at  seven  o'clock  in 
the  parish  vestry.  The  teacher  takes  from 
his  pocket  a  yellow  flute  with  one  key,  fits 


the  parts  together  with  much  care,  adjusts 
the  instrument  to  the  corner  of  his  mouth 
and  gives  a  preliminary  flourish.  With  a 
few  well  considered  remarks  the  school  is 
open  for  the  season. 

"The  pupils  are  marshalled  according  to 
their  voices  and  attainments.  Now  he 
stands  before  a  row  of  young  ladies,  gets 
the  pitch  from  the  yellow  flute  and  elevates 
his  sonorous  voice.  Now  he  listens  along 
the  line  for  unison  or  discord,  as  the  class 
repeat  the  note  or  passage.  From  the  rattle 
of  short,  diffident  responses,  let  off  at  every 
possible  grade,  his  quick  ear  is  able,  after 
some  severe  trials  of  patience,  to  judge  of 
the  materials  offered.  They  are  afterwards 
put  through  a  series  of  more  difficult  tests. 
At  one  bench  shrill  tenors  respond  as 
through  a  comb  covered  with  thin  paper. 
Boys  crow  like  young  chanticleers,  or  fall 
into  ruins  from  some  high  note,  while  basses 
drop  into  unfathomable  depths  of  sound 
which  seem  to  come  up  everywhere  through 
the  floor  and  give  no  hint  of  origin  or  rela- 
tion to  other  sounds. 

"Failing  at  his  bench  to  govern  the  tones 
of  the  class  by  his  voice,  the  teacher  now 
goes  to  an  obscure  corner  of  the  candle- 
lighted  room  and  returns  with  a  violoncello 
in  a  green  bag,  and  after  some  wailings 
and  shrieks  from  the  upper  strings,  groans 
from  the  lower  ones,  and  a  little  tub-tub- 
tubbing  with  the  thumb  and  finger,  the  in- 
strument is  in  tune  and  away  they  go  at  it 
again  guided  in  their  perilous  path  by  the 
tones  of  the  bass  viol. 

"As  the  class  proceeds  from  week  to 
week,  Fa,  Sol,  La  become  obsolete,  varieties 
of  time  and  movement  are  noted,  keynotes 
discovered,  and  the  class  goes  from  "Dun- 
dee" and  "Old  Hundred"  to  more  stirring 
music.  Now  they  start  on  some  ambitious 
fuguing  tunes  of  Billings  and  Holden,  in 
which  the  several  parts  worry  and  puzzle 
each  other  like  half  a  dozen  reckless  fire 
engines  in  full  cry  to  a  conflagration,  and 
the  few  remaining  lessons  are  more  like 
musical  reunions." 

A  graphic  picture  is  given  of  the 
bent  and  aged  sexton,  an  old  sailor, 
and  his  frequent  dashes  to  the  door  to 
disperse  the  crowd  of  young  street  buc- 


io6 


A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


caneers  who  gather  to  have  some  fun 
at  the  expense  of  the  class.  At  them 
he  hurls  a  broadside  of  invective,  of 
which  his  sea  training  has  made  him 
master.  The  grotesque  shadows  of 
the  teacher  cast  upon  the  wall  by  the 
dim  glimmer  of  the  candles  afford 
gentle  mirth.  Then,  too,  many  a  run- 
ning noose  flung  over  young  people 
unawares  at  the  singing  school  was 
drawn  into  a  love-knot  in  after  months 
and  years.  Undoubtedly  the  singing 
school  was  a  great  institution  in  its  day. 
Another  great*factor  in  the  develop- 
ment of  choral  singing  amongst  the 
people  was  the  Musical  Convention, 
and  the  establishment  of  these  conven- 
tions has  generally  been  attributed  to 
Lowell  Mason.  But  we  must  refer 
again  to  the  Cheney  family  and  quote 
from  a  letter  written  by  Moses  E. 
Cheney,  the  son  of  Elder  Cheney. 

"You  know,  perhaps,  that  the  singing  con- 
ventions, or  'musical  conventions,'  had  their 
beginning  in  Montpelier,  Vermont,  in  May, 
1839,  and  that  your  humble  servant  was  the 
projector,  and  that  they  were  continued 
yearly  until  five  very  successful  conventions 
had  been  held.  At  every  convention  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  to  fix  upon  a  town 
within  the  state  for  the  next  convention  and 
give  due  notice  to  the  newspapers.  The  five 
conventions  under  the  organization  were 
held  at  the  following  villages :  Montpelier, 
1839;  Newberry,  1840;  Windsor,  1841 : 
Woodstock,  1842;  Middlebury,  1843.  The 
committee  made  no  appointment  for  1844 
and  that  ended  the  organization.  Seven 
years  later,  when  I  returned  to  Vermont  to 
live,  I  found  that  musical  conventions  had 
been  going  on  for  three  or  four  years. 
Mason,  Baker.  Woodbury,  Root  and  others 
were  holding  them ;  it  was  a  new  start. 
Plainly  enough  they  had  all  rooted  from  the 
convention  held  in  Montpelier  in   1839." 

Mr.  Cheney  then  enters  into  the  de- 
tails of  the  origin  of  these  conventions  : 
"E;    K.    Prouty.    a    broken    merchant    in 


Waterford,  then  a  travelling  peddler  with  a 
horse  and  wagon,  came  along  with  his  cart 
and  took  me  to  Coventry.  As  he  was  a 
singing  teacher  there,  we  could  meet  some 
singers  and  have  a  great  musical  time. 
Very  good.  Prouty  was  a  fine  singer  and 
also  a  composer,  ten  years  my  senior.  Af- 
terward I  used  to  meet  Prouty  who  kept 
me  aroused  to  music,  and  soon  I  was  teach- 
ing in  Montpelier  and  leading  the  brick 
church  choir.  I  was  in  request  as  a  teacher 
for  all  I  could  do.  Well,  in  1836  Prouty 
was  visiting  his  wife's  relations  at  the  Cap- 
ital. I  chanced  to  meet  him,  and  he  was 
very  eloquent  on  the  subject  of  music.  As 
we  parted  I  said  to  him  jocularly,  'Prouty, 
we  must  have  a  musical  convention.' 

"I  soon  found  myself  seriously  in  thought 
on  the  subject.  I  spoke  of  it  to  Judge 
Redfield  and  other  eminent  persons,  all  of 
whom  gave  their  approval.  Judge  Howes 
said  a  call  must  be  issued,  inviting  the  peo- 
ple to  assemble  for  a  convention.  So  I 
trained  all  my  schools  to  the  practice  of  un- 
usual tunes,  anthems,  quartets,  male  quar 
tets,  duets  and  solos  for  both  sexes.  We 
used  for  secular  music  'The  Boston  Glee 
Book'  and  Kingsley's  two  volumes.  We 
had  more  than  two  hundred  singers,  half  of 
them  good  and  some  very  good.  All  could 
read  music.  Every  one,  I  think,  knew  his 
or  her  part.  The  convention  was  held  May 
22  and  23,  1839.  .  .  .  Lowell  Mason 
knew  nothing  of  it ;  Henry  E.  Moore  knew 
nothing  of  it.  The  musical  convention  was 
begotten  and  born  in  Vermont,  not 
in  Massachusetts ;  in  Montpelier,  not  in 
Boston.  It  was  suggested,  nursed  and 
trained  by  Moses  E.  Cheney  and  not  by 
Lowell  Mason,  who  stated  at  our  third  con- 
vention, held  at  Windsor  in  1841,  that  that 
was  the  first  day  he  had  ever  stepped  foot 
into  Vermont.  Our  committee  invited  him 
to  come  to  lead  our  singing.  He  came 
bringing  two  hundred  Carmina  Sacras  just 
from  the  press,  and  the  convention  sang  the 
new  music.  He  said  to  me  that  Vermont 
was  the  second  state  in  the  Union  in  point 
of  musical  culture.  He  did  not  think  it  the 
equal  of  Massachusetts,  but  it  surpassed  all 
other  states." 

The  officers  of  the  first  musical  con- 
vention,   held    at    Montpelier,    were : 


■  — 


wr» 


•MMMMMHM 


A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


107 


President,  Joshua  Bates,  President  of 
Middlebury  College;  Vice-president, 
E.  P.  Walton ;  Secretary,  E.  P.  Wal- 
ton, Jr. ;  Treasurer,  Solomon  Durgin  ; 
Director,  Moses  E.  Cheney ;  Organist, 
John  H.  Paddock. 

There  were  also  thirteen  clergymen 
present,  who  spoke  on  thirteen  dif- 
ferent subjects,  all  connected  with 
music.  Tneir  speeches  were  inter- 
spersed with  anthems,  tunes  and  glees 
which  constituted  the  prime  object  of 
the  convention. 

There  appears  to  have  been  a  pecu- 
liar confusion  of  name  in  connection 
with  musical  meetings.  The  word 
"convention,"  which  has  been  custom- 
arily applied  to  such  affairs  as  that  just 
related,  means  a  gathering  of  select 
persons  for  discussion  of  a  subject. 
This  certainly  does  not  apply  very  well 
to  the  conventions  of  the  Cheney  type, 
which  consisted  of  singers  gathered 
together  from  far  and  wide  for  the 
purpose  of  singing,  but  it  does  apply 
very  aptly  to  the  gatherings  organized 
by  Lowell  Mason  and  called  Teachers' 
Institutes.  These  were  really  gather- 
ings of  teachers  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
cussing matters  of  musical  education. 
They  were  held  at  various  places  and 
lasted  a  few  weeks.  As  an  institute  is 
essentially  something  on  a  firm  founda- 
tion and  of  a  lasting  nature  this  title 
seems  peculiarly  inappropriate,  even 
more  so  than  the  use  of  the  word  con- 
vention for  musical  festival. 

With  all  due  allowance  for  confusion 
of  terms,  there  is  still  evidence  that 
Elder  Cheney  is  mistaken  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  musical  convention,  for 
according  to  good  authorities  a  similar 
gathering  was  held  at  Concord,  N.  H., 
in  1829,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Cen- 
tral Musical  Societv  of  that  State,  and 


was  conducted  by  Henry  E.  Moore, 
the  same  gentleman  who,  according  to 
Elder  Cheney,  knew  nothing  of  the 
Montpelier  convention  of  1839. 

It  is  now  advisable  to  go  back  a 
little  for  the  purpose  of  sketching  the 
career  of  Lowell  Mason  and  his  great- 
est works — introducing  singing  into 
the  public  schools,  and  establishing 
conventions — that  is,  "Teachers'  In- 
stitutes." 

Lowell  Mason  will  always  be  a 
prominent  figure  in  the  history  of 
music  in  America.  He  marked  the 
transition  period  from  the  illiteracy  of 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury to  the  generally  diffused  musical 
information  of  the  present  time.  To 
him  we  owe  some  of  our  best  ideas  in 
religious  music,  elementary  musical 
education,  music  in  the  public  schools, 
the  popularization  of  classical  chorus 
singing,  and  the  art  of  teaching  music 
on  the  inductive  plan.  In  short,  he 
formed  the  musical  taste  of  his  gen- 
eration and  of  the  next  following,  and 
has  been  called,  "The  Father  of  Music 
in  America." 

Lowell  Mason  was  born  in  Medfield, 
Massachusetts,  January  8,  1792,  and 
was  the  son  of  a  manufacturer  of 
straw  bonnets.  As  a  boy  he  had  a 
great  fondness  for  music,  but  such  a 
thing  as  devoting  himself  to  it  for  a  life 
business  was  not  contemplated.  In 
school  he  did  not  distinguish  himself, 
and  although  he  had  no  bad  habits,  he 
acquired  the  reputation  of  being  a 
ne'er  do  well.  His  thirst  for  every- 
thing relating  to  musical  art  was  qreat, 
and  he  amused  himself  by  learning  to 
play  almost  every  instrument  which 
came  in  his  way.  This  he  could  do 
with  very  little  trouble,  and  he  taught 
singing  schools,  led  a  choir  and  became 


io8 


A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


prominent  in  his  native  town  quite 
early.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  went 
South  with  a  view  to  making  his  for- 
tune. He  secured  a  position  in  a  bank 
at  Savannah,  but  there  also  his  chief 
work  became  that  of  teaching  singing 
and  leading  a  choir,  which  soon  be- 
came famous  in  the  surrounding 
country,  not  only  for  the  musical  qual- 
ity of  its  work,  but  especially  for  the 
religious  spirit  which  characterized 
its  singing. 

In  1825  Deacon  Julius  Palmer,  of 
Boston,  spent  a* Sabbath  in  Savannah 
and  was  so  impressed  with  the  music 
in  the  Presbyterian  church  where  Mr. 
Mason  was  playing  the  organ  and  lead- 
ing the  choir,  that  on  his  return  home 
he  interested  a  number  of  gentlemen  in 
joining  a  movement  to  invite  Mr. 
Mason  to  remove  to  Boston  and  work 
for  the  improvement  of  church  music 
there.  The  result  was  that  Lowell 
Mason  moved  to  Boston  in  1827  and 
took  charge  of  the  choirs  of  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher's  church  in  Hanover  Street, 
Dr.  Edward  Beecher's  and  the  Park 
Street  church.  After  a  time  the  plan 
of  managing  three  church  choirs  was 
found  not  to  work  well  and  he  con- 
fined his  labors  to  the  first.  In  the 
same  year  he  was  elected  president  of 
the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  a  posi- 
tion which  he  held  for  five  years. 

Meanwhile  his  mind  became  occu- 
pied with  schemes  for  the  musical  edu- 
cation of  children.  In  1829  he  met  Mr. 
William  C.  Woodbridge,  who  had  been 
abroad  for  several  years  studying  edu- 
cational systems,  and  brought  with  him 
the  published  works  of  Pestalozzi  and 
the  music  book  on  Pestalozzian  prin- 
ciples by  Nageli  and  other  writers. 
Being  engaged  to  lecture  in  Bos- 
ton  Mr.   Woodbridge  wished   to  find 


some  school  children  to  help  him 
with  illustrations  of  a  musical  nature 
and  was  referred  to  Lowell  Mason, 
who  had  a  well  trained  class  of 
boys.  Mr.  Mason  did  not  at  first  care 
to  change  his  method  in  favor  of  that 
of  Pestalozzi,  and  it  was  not  until  after 
a  good  deal  of  persuasion  that  he  con- 
sented to  teach  a  class  upon  the  new 
system.  The  result,  however,  so  far 
surpassed  his  expectations  that  he  was 
permanently  converted,  and  became  a 
consistent  advocate  of  the  inductive 
method. 

It  was  apparently  this  new  departure 
which  caused  his  resignation  from  the 
presidency  of  the  Handel  and  Haydn 
Society,  for  many  of  the  members  were 
old  fashioned,  and  opposed  to  innova- 
tions. It  also  caused  the  founding  of 
the  Boston  Academy  of  Music  in  1833. 

Shortly  after  his  conversion  to  the 
new  method,  efforts  were  made  to  es- 
tablish music  as  a  regular  study  in  the 
public  schools,  and  in  1832  a  resolution 
was  passed  by  the  primary  school 
board  to  the  effect  that  "one  school 
from  each  district  be  selected 
for  the  introduction  of  syste- 
matic instruction  in  vocal  mu- 
sic." The  experiment  did  not 
prove  to  be  more  than  a  partial  trial 
and  Mr.  Mason  became  convinced  that 
it  was  necessary  to  bring  more  potent 
influences  to  bear  in  shaping  public 
opinion  as  a  motive  power  with  the 
educational  authorities.  He  therefore 
organized  gratuitous  classes  for  chil- 
dren and  gave  concerts  to  illustrate 
their  proficiency  and  the  practicability 
of  his  scheme  for  primary  musical  edu- 
cation, and  thus  the  people's  interest 
became  aroused. 

This,  all  took  time  and  it  was  not 
until    1836  that  the  school  board,  on 


A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


ict; 


petitions  from  citizens,  authorized  the 
introduction  of  music  into  the  public 
schools,  and  even  then  the  city  failed 
to  make  the  necessary  appropriation. 

Mr.  Mason,  however,  was  not  to  be 
daunted  by  trifles  after  he  had  gone  so 
far,  and  he  volunteered  to  teach  in  one 
school  for  a  year  without  charge.  He 
did  this  and  in  addition  supplied  the 
pupils  with  books  and  materials  at  his 
own  expense.  The  result  was  that  the 
report  of  the  committee  on  music  in 
1838  testified  to  the  entire  success  of 
the  experiment  and  said :  "The  com- 
mittee will  add,  on  the  authority  of  the 
masters  of  the  Hawes  School,  that  the 
scholars  are  farther  advanced  in  their 
studies  at  the  end  of  this  than  of  any 
other  year." 

Thus,  seven  years  after  the  enter- 
prise was  first  taken  in  hand  by  Mr. 
Mason,  a  work  was  accomplished 
whose  influence  has  ever  more  been 
felt  and  continues  to  expand  in  its 
beneficent  operation  throughout  the 
whole  United  States.  Music  was 
formally  adopted  as  a  public  school 
study  and  Lowell  Mason  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  work.  In  1839  the  school 
committee  said  in  their  report,  "It  may 
be  regarded  as  the  Magna  Charta  of 
musical  education  in  America." 

Lowell  Mason  remained  in  charge  of 
the  music  in  the  public  schools  of  Bos- 
ton until  1853  when  he  was  superseded 
by  a  former  pupil  of  his  own,  an  event 
which  caused  him  some  mortification, 
although  of  a  nature  common  in  city 
politics. 

Shortly  after 'this,  Mr.  Mason  went 
abroad  where  he  was  received  with 
great  honor  and  everywhere  recog- 
nized as  an  eminent  teacher  and  a  most 
impressive  lecturer. " 

Aside  from  his  books,  and  occasional 


musical  conventions,  his  last  days  were 
not  occupied  with  teaching,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Normal  Musical  In- 
stitutes held  for  several  years  at  North 
Reading,  Massachusetts,  where  he  con- 
ducted the  oratorio  choruses  and  the 
sacred  music  classes,  and  brought  them 
to  a  remarkable  degree  of  perfection. 
The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Music  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  University 
of  Yale. 

Dr.  Mason  was  a  natural  teacher, 
full  of  tact,  logical,  handy  with  the 
black  board  and  delightfully  simple  in 
his  phraseology.  He  declared  that 
teachers  ought  to  be  promoted  down- 
wards, for  the  real  work  must  be  done 
at  the  bottom.  His  great  merits  were 
his  simplicity,  sincerity  and  unaffected 
kindness.  He  died  at  Orange,  N.  J., 
in  1872. 

The  establishment  of  the  "conven- 
tion" was  a  part  of  Lowell  Mason's 
plan  for  the  education  of  the  masses  in 
singing  by  note.  The  Boston  Academy 
of  Music  was  founded  with  this  object 
in  view  and  in  1834,  the  year  after  its 
establishment,  a  course  of  lectures  was 
given  by  its  professors  to  teachers  of 
singing  schools,  and  others.  The 
"others"  must  have  been  few  in  num- 
bers for  the  lectures,  we  are  told,  were 
attended  by  twelve  persons,  most  of 
whom  had  been  accustomed  to  teach. 
In  1835  a  similar  course  was  given 
with  an  attendance  of  eighteen  persons, 
besides  several  of  the  class  of  '34.  In 
1836  the  membership  rose  to  twenty- 
eight,  besides  members  of  the  previous 
classes,  and  the  gentlemen  present  on 
this  occasion  organized  themselves  into 
a  convention  for  the  discussion  of 
questions  relating  to  the  general  sub- 
ject of  musical  education,  church 
music,  and  musical  performances,  dur- 


no        A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


ing  such  hours  as  were  not  occupied  by 
the  lectures. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  follow  the 
history  of  the  convention  in  detail.  It 
resemhled  the  course  of  true  love 
which  never  does  run  smoothly.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say  that  the  con- 
vention became  a  popular  method 
for  the  diffusion  of  musical 
knowledge, — and  sometimes  also  for 
the  display  of  ignorance.  Much 
good  was  done  by  it,  however,  and 
when  properly  conducted,  with  its  true 
intentions  carried  out  it  enabled  the 
psalm-tune  teacher,  the  music  teacher 
from  small  country  towns,  and  mem- 
bers of  singing  societies  or  church 
choirs  to  hear  new  works  rendered  by 
a  good  chorus,  to  gather  some  new 
and  much  needed  information,  and 
sometimes  to  enjoy  the  inspiring  per- 
formance of  some  noted  artist. 

Like  every  other  good  thing,  it  was 
subject  to  abuse,  and  many  conventions 
were  held  by  ignorant  impostors,  men 
of  low  tastes,  and  those  whose  sole  ob- 
ject was  "trade,"  but  on  the  whole  the 
convention  wrought  much  good,  and 
helped  to  make  possible  the  Oratorio 
and  Choral  Society. 

The  evolution  of  the  Oratorio  So- 
ciety in  New  England  was  not  rapid, 
and  we  may  perhaps  get  the  best  idea 
of  it  by  tracing  the  history  of  choral 
singing  in  one  of  the  smaller  cities. 

Let  us  take  Salem.  Massachusetts, 
for  our  example.  Previous  to  1814 
there  was  an  association  called  the 
Essex  Musical  Society,  by  which  v  1  re 
held  primitive  festivals  in  different 
towns  in  the  county,  but  the  first  regu- 
lar society  formed  in  Salem  was  the 
Essex  South  Musical  Society,  organ- 
ized in  October,  [814,  with  Tsaac 
Flagg    of    Beverly    for    director,    and 


consisting  of  about  sixty  members.  It 
was  customary  in  those  days  for  the 
clergy  to  make  addresses  on  musical 
subjects  at  the  public  performances 
and  even  at  the  rehearsals,  and  many 
of  these  were  considered  important 
and  undoubtedly  aided  in  developing 
the  interest  in  music.  This  society  con- 
tinued to  exist  for  ten  years  and  a  half, 
the  last  concert  being  given  on  No- 
vember 20,  1829. 

There  were  also  other  societies, — 
the  Handel  Society  was  organized  in 
1 817  and  lasted  three  years  ;  the  Haydn 
Society  came  into  existence  in  1821, 
but  was  short  lived ;  the  Mozart  Asso- 
ciation was  formed  in  1825  and  existed 
nearly  ten  years.  These  societies  chose 
ambitious  names,  and  sang  selections 
from  Handel,  Haydn  and  Mozart,  be- 
sides minor  composers,  but  the  mem- 
bers were  untrained  in  the  vocal  art, 
except  for  such  instruction  as  was  af- 
forded by  the  old  fashioned  singing 
school. 

In  1832  the  Salem  Glee  Club  was 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  studying  a 
lighter  and  more  modern  class  of 
music.  This  society  flourished  for 
about  twenty  years  and  became  very 
efficient.  There  was  also  the  Salem 
Social  Singing  Society  formed  in  1839. 
and  a  new  Mozart  Association  in  1840. 

In  1846  the  Salem  Academy  of 
Music  was  formed,  with  a  membership 
of  fifty  persons  and  an  orchestra  of 
sixteen  instruments,  and  in  1849  die 
Salem  Philharmonic  Society  was  or- 
ganized. These  two  societies  amalga- 
mated in  1855  under  the  name  of  the 
Salem  Choral  Society.  All  these  so- 
cieties tended  to  raise  the  standard  of 
music,  more  ambitious  work  was  con- 
tinually being  done,  better  musicians 
were   constantly   becoming  associated. 


■  -" 


A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND        in 


and    the   general   average   of   musical 
knowledge  was  greater  each  year. 

In  1868  the  time  was  considered 
ripe  for  the  formation  of  a  society 
capable  of  performing  the  greater 
choral  works  and  the  result  was  the 
establishment  of  the  Salem  Oratorio 
Society,  which  has  always  had  a  high 
reputation.  The  prominent  names  in 
the  musical  history  of  Salem  include 
Henry  K.  Oliver.  Dr.  J.  F.  Tucker- 
man,  B.  J.  Lang,  Manuel  Fenolosa, 
Carl  Zerrahn  and  others. 

Some  of  the  most  noted  choral  socie- 
ties are  the  Worcester  County  Musical 
Association  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  the 
Hampden  County  Musical  Associa- 
tion of  Springfield.  Mass. ;  the  Salem 
Oratorio  Society ;  and  the  Portland 
Oratorio  Society.  New  Bedford, 
Mass.,  Hartford  and  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  Burlington,  Vt.,  and  many 
other  cities  and  towns  have  flourishing 
choral  societies. 

In  the  middle  of  the  century  there 
was  little  or  no  earnest  musical  effort 
outside  of  the  two  or  three  largest 
cities,  which  was  not  included  in  the 
range  of  culture  represented  by  Lowell 
Mason  and  his  associates,  who  effected 
a  great  deal  in  the  way  of  introducing 
the  chief  choruses  from  the  great  ora- 
torios. 

After  the  war  the  conditions  changed. 
Many  musical  societies  were  formed, 
but  with  the  increase  of  wealth  and 
culture  there  became  a  wider  differ- 
ence between  the  advanced  and  the 
elementary  grades  of  knowledge.  Thus 
while  a  high  class  of  music  was  culti- 
vated amongst  the  few,  the  masses  of 
people  did  not  advance, — in  fact  they 
appear  to  have  retrograded. 

Nevertheless  the  work. of  the  conven- 
tion   and    the    musical    institute    went 


steadily    on,    and    made   possible    the 
Peace  Jubilee  of  1869. 

This  great  musical  festival  was 
planned  by  P.  S.  Gilmore  and  it  was 
intended  to  "whip  creation."  The 
plan  included  a  chorus  of  twenty 
thousand  voices,  an  orchestra  of  two 
thousand,  an  audience  of  fifty  thous- 
and, and  a  building  to  hold  them  all. 
In  addition  to  all  these  wonders,  there- 
were  to  be  soloists,  both  vocal  and  in- 
strumental, suitable  for  the  occasion. 
To  give  a  complete  history  of  the  affair 
would  take  more  space  than  can  be 
spared,  and  would  lead  us  beyond  the 
limits  of  this  paper,  but  some  little 
sketch  of  the  chorus,  which  actually 
exceeded  ten  thousand  voices  is  within 
our  province,  and  at  the  same  time  it 
may  be  remarked  that  a  second  Jubilee 
was  held  in  1872  in  which  the  num- 
bers planned  for  the  first  one  were 
realized,  and  the  whole  program  car- 
ried out  with  all  its  elaborate  details, 
even  to  the  importation  of  several  of 
the  finest  military  bands  from  Europe. 
The  first  Jubilee  was  financially  a  suc- 
cess, the  second  a  failure.  It  will  an- 
swer our  purpose  to  glance  at  the  first 
only,  for  the  second  was  merely  a  rep- 
etition on  a  larger  scale,  the  methods 
employed  being  the  same,  but  the  artis- 
tic residt  certainly  no  greater,  because 
of  the  unwieldy  mass  of  material  to  be 
managed. 

From  the  beginning  the  project  was 
worked  up  with  consummate  skill,  first 
in  the  securing  0f  financial  support, 
second  in  advertising  and  third  in  the 
organizing  of  the  chorus  and  orches- 
tra. When  Mr.  Gilmore  first  ventilated 
his  huge  plan,  he  visited  many  of  Bos- 
ton's musicians  and  organizers,  but 
they  were  appalled  by  the  magnitude 
of  the  undertaking.     Finallv  he  sue- 


ii2         A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


ceeded  in  interesting  Dr.  Eben  Tour- 
jee, who,  after  a  couple  of  days'  reflec- 
tion, came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
scheme  was  feasible,  and  convinced 
other  men  who  were  influential  in  mus- 
ical and  financial  circles. 

Mr.  Gilmore  could  not  have  secured 
a  more  efficient  assistant  than  Dr. 
Tourjee,  who  was  a  born  organizer 
and  an  inspirer  of  enthusiasm  in  oth- 
ers, whom  he  impressed  by  his  inborn 
grace  and  suavity  of  manners.  For 
many  years  Eben  Tourjee  had  worked 
with  the  desire  to  make  possible  for 
the  masses  the  best  musical  education. 
He  became  impressed,  during  a  foreign 
journey,  with  the  idea  of  establishing 
a  musical  conservatory  in  America 
similar  to  the  great  institutions  abroad, 
and  his  efforts  in  that  direction  bore 
fruit  in  the  New  England  Conserva- 
tory. In  regard  to  the  establishment 
of  this  institution  an  amusing  story  is 
told,  which  gives  the  keynote  to  Dr. 
Tourjee's  ingenuity  and  tenacity  of 
purpose.  On  unfolding  his  plans  to  a 
friend  from  whom  he  wished  to  secure 
financial  aid,  he  was  told,  "You  can  no 
more  do  it  than  you  can  make  a  whistle 
out  of  a  pig's  tail."  Tourjee  went  off, 
but  in  a  few  days  returned  to  his  friend 
and  showed  him  a  whistle  which  he 
had  made  out  of  a  pig's  tail.  In  such 
ways  he  enlisted  the  confidence  of 
moneyed  men,  his  scheme  was  carried 
out  and  the  whistle  is  to  be  seen  to  this 
day  in  the  museum  of  the  New  Eng- 
land conservatory. 

When  Dr.  Tourjee  decided  to  co- 
operate with  Gilmore  in  the  Peace  Jub- 
ilee, it  not  only  saved  the  Jubilee  but 
ensured  its  success,  and  the  result  of 
this  success  was  that  Dr.  Tourjee  was 
called  upon  to  lecture  all  over  the  coun- 
try.   Bv  this  means  he  established  "the 


Praise  Service,"  giving  lectures  and 
illustrating  the  subject  in  nearly  one 
thousand  churches,  and  inspiring  a 
vast  number  of  people  with  his  own 
enthusiasm. 

The  organization  of  the  chorus  was 
thus  placed  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Eben 
Tourjee,  whose  great  services  in  the 
cause  of  musical  education  had  already 
become  conspicuous.  Dr.  Tourjee 
sent  out  invitations  to  all  choral  socie- 
ties, clubs,  choirs  and  conventions  to 
join  the  huge  chorus.  The  replies  came 
in  quickly,  many  new  societies  sprang 
up  and  choruses  were  organized 
for  the  occasion.  Musical  instruction 
in  the  public  schools  had  been  unosten- 
tatiously feeding  all  these  fountains. 
The  program  was  laid  out  and  sent  to 
each  organization.  The  singers  came 
together  in  their  respective  towns  with 
enthusiasm  and  in  the  work  of  rehears- 
al, the  sense  of  participation  was  in- 
spiring and  uplifting. 

When  the  great  gathering  took  place 
and  visitors  streamed  to  Boston  for  the 
final  rehearsals  en  masse  there  was  in- 
describable enthusiasm.  Perhaps  the 
greatest  object  lesson  of  the  whole  fes- 
tival was  the  chorus  of  seven  thousand 
school  children  giving  a  concert  of 
simple  music  on  the  last  day  of  the 
week.  No  greater  testimonial  to  the 
work  of  Lowell  Mason  could  have  been 
devised. 

As  far  as  the  artistic  results  of  the 
Jubilee  are  concerned,  there  was  much 
that  was  disappointing,  although  some 
grand  effects  were  produced  at  times, 
especially  in  the  rendering  of  the  great 
chorals  from  the  Oratorios.  It  gave  a 
new  impulse  to  the  cause  of  choral 
singing  all  over  the  country.  The  first 
bond  of  union  of  the  new  societies  was 
the  practice  of  good  music, — the  great 


A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND         113 

works  of  Handel,  Haydn,  Mozart  and      culture,  is  impossible  except  in  the  capital 
Mendelssohn  °^  New  England.     Children  in  Boston  learn 

Ti       -,,  ,  1      ^i      r  11       •  music  with  their  alphabet.     Singing  by  note 

it  will  be  seen  by  the  following:  sta-  ,  ",  * 

— not    the     mere     screaming    of    tunes — is 
tistics  that  by  far  the  greatest  part  of      taught  in  the  most  thorough  and  systematic 

the  chorus  was  recruited  from  Boston      manner  in  all  the  public  schools.  This  is  why 

and    its    immediate    vicinity,    although       Boston  has  such  magnificent  choruses;  and 

there  were  representatives  from  states      sha11  we  not  say  that  the  charming  good 

r        ,.  ,  T11.      .  1  /-\i  •         t         order,  good  temper,  and  enthusiasm  which 

as  far  distant  as  Illinois  and  Ohio.    In  •-.,.,  j 

were   so   conspicuous   in   the  motley   crowd 

the  second  Jubilee  the  representations  that  overflowed  the  Coliseum  were  also  at- 

were  from  almost,  if  not  quite,  every  tnbutable  in  no  small  degree  to  the  refining 

state  as  far  west  as  Nebraska,  and  the  and  elevating  influence  of  an  early  musical 

chorus  was  twice  as  large.      In   com-  education.     Here    New    York   and   all    the 

,,        T   ,  -i          .,        -KT  great  cities  of  America  may  find  their  lesson 

menting   upon   the    Jubilee,    the    New  r  ^     T  ,  ..     „ 

b  .     ^                  J             '  of  the  Jubilee. 

York  Tribune  said :  _,      .  „'     .       ,.         .             .      . 

I.  he  following  list  of  organizations 

"The  Jubilee  could  have  been  organized  which   took  part  jn  the   peace  Jubilee 

nowhere  but  in  Boston.     A  great  orchestra  ,    „,     .    .    .         f  ~     .    ,  i?    T  , 

,         „    .    .  ,  ,    ,       ,      .       ,,        of  1 000  is  taken  from  Dwieht  s    ournal 

can   be   collected  by  anybody  who  has   the  y  °  J 

the  money  to  pay  for  it ;  but  a  great  chorus.       of  Music.      We  copy  simply  the  mat- 
in  the  present   state   of  American   musical      ter  referring  to  the  Chorus : 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Directors.  Members. 

Boston   Chorus — Bumstead  Hall   Classes Carl  Zerrahn,  P.   S.  Gilmore,  and 

Eben    Tourjee 2934 

Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  Boston Carl    Zerrahn 649 

Boston  Choral  Society,  South  Boston J.   C.   D.    Parker 278 

Chelsea   Choral    Society John    W.    Tufts 504 

Newton  Choral   Society George  S.  Trowbridge 221 

Worcester  Mozart  &  Beethoven  Ch.  Union ....  Solon    Wilder 202 

Salem   Carl    Zerrahn 269 

Randolph  J.   B.   Thayer 101 

Spingfield   Mendelssohn  Union Amos    Whiting 113 

Georgetown  Musical  Union E.  Wildes 51 

Newburyport    Charles  P.  Morrison 92 

Haverhill  Musical  Union J.   K.   Colby 132 

Fall    River    Chorus    Society C.    H.    Robbins 75 

Medford    W.  A.  Webber '    84 

Weymouth C.  H.  Webb 188 

Athol  Musical   Association W.    S.    Wiggin 40 

Quincy  Point  Choral  Society E.    P.   Hey  wood 30 

Groton  Centre  Musical  Association Dr.  Norman  Smith 49 

Maiden  Chorus  Club O.   B.    Brown 56 

Plymouth  Rock  Choral  Societv John    H.    Harlow 29 

South  Abington  Choral  Society William   A.    Bowles 46 

Waltham  Choral  Union J.    S.   Jones 143 

Fitchburg  Choral    Society Moses  G.   Lyon y^ 

East  Douglas  Musical  Society John   C.   Waters 25 

Quincy   H.    B.    Brown 60 

Lawrence  S.    A.    Ellis 167 

Abington    Centre Henry    Noyes 45 

Yarmouth  Chorus  Club Jairus  Lincoln 28 


*9 


114        A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

Sandwich  Choral  Society H.  Hersey  Heald 21 

Hyannis   R.     Weeks 24 

Mansfield     George   E.    Bailey 35 

Holliston     W.    L.    Payson 5c 

Melrose  Musical   Association H.  E.  Trowbridge 25 

Northfield    Miss  M.  A.  Field 24 

Springfield  Choral  Union J.  D.   Hutchins 24 

North    Abington J.   F.   L.   Whitmarsh 21 

East    Somerville S.    D.    Hadley 25 

Sherborn  Musical  Association Augustus    H.    Leland 22 

South    Braintree    Choral    Society H.    Wilde 14c 

Whitinsville    '.  . .  .  B.   L.   M.   Smith 13 

New  Bedford J.  E.  Eaton,  Jr 75 

West  Acton  Schubert  Choral  Union George   Gardner    4c 

Middleboro   A.    J.    Pickens 23 

East  Boston  Choral  Society Dexter  A.  Tompkins 54 

Hopkinton     ..f. E.    S.    Nason 31 

Methuen     Jacob   Emerson,   Pres 30 

Natick    J.    Asten    Broad 102 

Milford    C.  J.  Thompson 38 

Woburn P.   E.   Bancroft 58 

Lowell    Solon  W.   Stevens 148 

Amesbury   Musical   Ass'n Moses   Flanders    65 

Belmont  Musical  Ass'n F.  E  Yates,  Pres 37 

Acushnet   Musical   Ass'n Ammi  Howard    24 

Framingham     L.   O.   Emerson 40 

Winchester  Choral  Society J.    C.   Johnson 48 

Webster  Carl  Krebs   23 

Ashland   C.  V.  Mason 41 

North    Bridgewater Dr.  G.  R.  Whitney 138 

Reading  Musical  Ass'n D.  G.  Richardson,  Pres 43 

Sterling    Birney   Mann    18 

Andover George  Kingman  . 32 

Groveland   L.  Hopkins  25 

Taunton  Beethoven  Soc'y L.    Soule    97 

Lynn  Rufus  Pierce   133 

Westfield   J.  R.  Cladwin,  Pres 36 

Roxbury    H.  W.  Brown,  Pres 35 

NEW     HAMPSHIRE. 

Manchester  E.  T.  Baldwin 40 

Nashua    E.  P.   Phillips 49 

Wolfeboro  Union  Chorus  and  Glee  Club M.  T.  Cate 31 

Plaistow  Choral   Soc'y Mrs.  J.  T.  Nichols 23 

Keene   G.  W.  Foster  and  C.  M.  Wytnan .  .  23 

Farmington B.    F.    Ashton 20 

Lebanon J.  M.    Perkins 39 

New    Hampton Z.    C.    Perkins 29 

Salmon  Falls George   W.   Brookings 30- 

Exeter,  Rockingham  Mus.   Ass'n Rev.  J.  W.  Pickering,  Jr 82 

Concord  Choral  Soc'y John  Jackson  96 

Francestown     G.  Epps  31 

Dover.   Strafford   Co.    Mus   Ass'n W."  O.    Perkins 193 


A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND         115 


Laconia,  Belknap  Mus.  Ass'n Ralph   N.  Merrill . 

Suncook  Choral  Soc'y J.    C.    Cram 


VERMONT. 

Randolph,  Orange  Co.  Mus.  Soc'y George  Dodge   

Rutland    R.  I.  Humphrey 

Middlebury     C.   F.    Stone 

MAINE. 

Damariscotta    G.    M.    Thurlow 

Farmington   Choral    Society C.   A.   Allen 

Augusta   Waldemar   Malmene 

Saco    G.    G.    Additon 

Lewiston,  Androscoggin  Mus.  Soc'y Seth   Sumner   

Bangor     F.  S.   Davenport 


CONNECTICUT. 

New  Haven  Choral  Union J.    H.    Wheeler.  . .  . 

Thompsonville,   Enfield E.  F.  Parsons 

Waterbury J.  W.  Smith,  Pres . 

Wallingford   J.  H.  Wheeler 

Lakeville,  Salisbury D.    F.    Stillman.... 


RHODE   ISLAND. 


Pawtucket    Choral    Society George   W.    Hazel  wood. 

Providence    Lewis  T.  Downes 


NEW  YORK. 

Granville   D.   B.  Worley. . . 

Malone  Musical  Ass'n T.  H.  Attwood.  . 

Saratoga   Springs S.    E.   Bushnell.  . 

ILLINOIS. 

Chicago  Mendelssohn  Soc'y J.  A.  Butterfield. 

OHIO. 

Mansfield     W.  H.  Ingersoll . 

Cleveland     S.    A.    Fuller.... 

Total    


34 
31 

18 
50 
26 


3,2 
27 
23 
69 
61 
57 

83 
14 
42 
40 
20 


33 

82 


28 
21 


95 


20 
28 


.  10,228 


From  the  time  of  the  Jubilee  the 
work  of  educating  the  masses  to  sing 
at  sight  went  steadily  foward  and  ef- 
forts have  been  continually  directed 
to  improving  the  musical  taste  of  the 
people.  In  the  higher  branches  of 
musical  education  and  enjoyment  im- 
mense progress  has  been  made.  Bos- 
ton to-day  possesses  an  orchestra  said 
to  be  the  finest  in  the  world,  and  there 
is  no  city  in  America  in  which  great 
musical  artists  are  more  highly  appre 
dated,  or  where  more  is  being  done  for 


music  students.  All  this  is  actually  a 
testimonial  to  the  work  of  those  who 
have  labored  for  the  masses. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  there  is 
still  room  for  more  foundation  work, 
and  a  lesson  has  been  learned  from 
New  York,  where  some  nine  or  ten 
years  ago  Mr.  Frank  Damrosch  estab- 
lished Sunday  singing  classes  for  all 
people.  The  experiment  was  highly 
successful,  for  the  opportunity  was 
eagerly  accepted  by  the  people  for 
whom  it  was  intended. 


ii6        A  CENTURY  OF  CHORAL  SINGING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 


In  the  fall  of  1897,  a  similar  plan 
was  adopted  in  Boston  under  Mr. 
Samuel  W.  Cole,  a  well  educated  mu- 
sician, who  has  for  many  years  been 
a  teacher  of  sight  singing  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Dedham  and  Brookline 
and  at  the  New  England  Conserva- 
tory. 

The  same  feeling  of  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  singing  school  filled  Elder 
Cheney  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  in- 
spired Samuel  W.  Cole  when  he  at- 
tended a  convention  at  Concord,  N. 
H.,  as  a  boy.  Always  fond  of  music 
and  the  son  of  a  musically  inclined 
father,  the  impression  made  on  him 
by  the  singing  of  the  grand  choruses 
from  the  oratorios  by  a  large  choir  di- 
rected by  Carl  Zerrahn  was  such  that 
he  determined  to  make  music  his  life 
work.  The  hymn  singing  at  Mr. 
Cole's  class  was  under  the  direction  of 
L.  O.  Emerson,  and  Mrs.  Martha 
Dana  Shepard  presided  at  the  piano 
skillfully  supporting  and  coaching 
the  somewhat  nervous  choir. 

Mr.  Cole  now  entered  seriously  up- 
on musical  studies  and  secured  the 
best  education  available  for  the  pur- 
pose in  view.  He  began  life  as  a 
music  teacher  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H., 
and  has  since  been  continually  en- 
gaged as  organist,  choir  director  and 
as  teacher  of  sight  singing  in  the  pub- 
lic schools.  A  few  years  ago  he  gave 
up  his  position  as  organist  at  the  Clar- 
endon Street  Baptist  Church  in  order 
to  travel  abroad,  and  on  his  return, 
his  Sundays  then  being  free,  he  was 
able  to  accept  the  suggestion  of  the 
committee  of  the  Massachusetts  Emer- 
gency and  Hygiene  Society  to  estab- 
lish and  direct  the  Tropic's  Singing 
classes.  These  classes  meet  at  four 
o'clock  on  Sunday  afternoons.     Each 


person  pays  ten  cents  towards  the  rent 
of  the  hall  and  the  purchase  of  music. 
The  instructors  give  their  services, 
and  consider  that  their  reward  lies  in 
the  moral  and  intellectual  good  gained 
by  the  chorus. 

In  a  very  short  time  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  first  class  in  Bumstead 
Hall,  it  was  found  necessary  to  pro- 
vide for  the  overflow,  and  other  classes 
were  formed  in  different  parts  of  the 
city,  until  there  were  five  large 
choruses. 

Mr.  Cole  declares  that  people  like  the 
music  that  they  know,  and  the  aim  of 
the  People's  singing  class  is  to  enable 
them  to  know  good  music  in  the  belief 
that  when  they  know  it  they  will  like 
it.  In  answer  to  the  statement  that 
the  people  always  want  a  "tune,"  he 
says  that  certainly  they  will  have  the 
approval  of  all  good  musicians  in  this, 
if  they  will  only  like  good  tunes,  and 
such  they  learn  in  these  classes.  This 
work  may  be  considered  in  some  re- 
spects the  most  important  movement 
since  sight  singing  was  established  in 
the  public  schools,  for  it  enables  peo- 
ple to  enjoy  the  inspiration  of  choral 
singing,  whose  means  and  occupation 
prevent  their  gaining  it  in  any  other 
way,  and  makes  it  possible  for  them  to 
continue  the  study  which  they  began 
in  the  schools.  In  New  York,  where 
the  plan  has  been  in  existence  for  sev- 
eral years,  the  classes  are  immense, 
and  have  been  so  judiciously  managed 
financially  that  they  have  a  good  bal- 
ance at  the  banker's.  In  Boston  the 
scheme  is  not  less  successful,  and  will 
doubtless  gain  financially  as  long  as 
the  present  system  is  maintained. 
There  is  ao  doubt  that  the  movement 
will  spread  into  the  smaller  cities  and 
towns   of   New   England,    just   as   all 


HOOSAC  TUNNEL'S  TROUBLED  STORY 


"7 


schemes  for  choral  singing  have  done. 
There  is,  however,  this  difference, — 
that  while  at  the  beginning  of  the  cen- 
tury few,  very  few,  of  the  singers 
could  read  the  simplest  music  at  sight, 
today  no  one  who  has  attended  school 
is  without  a  moderate  knowledge  of 


the  elements  of  sight  singing.  In 
what  better  manner  can  the  work- 
ing people  spend  their  Sunday  after- 
noons than  in  the  manner  prescribed 
by  the  old  hymn  : — - 

"All  people  that  on  earth  do  dwell, 
Sing  to  the  Lord  with  cheerful  voice." 


Hoosac  Tunnel's  Troubled  Story 

By  Edward  P.   Pressey 

"A  pathway  cleft  beneath  Old  Hoosac  hoary! 

How   few  will  climb  the  mountain's  weary   stair; 
And  future  years  will  hand  its  troubled  story 

From  child  to  child  as  olden  legends  are." 


THE  Mohican  name  Hoosac 
means  far-over-the-mountain. 
The  Indians  called  the 
streams  just  west  of  Hoosac 
the  Mayunsook  and  Ashuwillticook, 
while  the  winding  torrent  to  the  east, 
under  the  beetling  rocks,  was  the 
Pocumtuck.  Over  the  mountain,  from 
the  western  to  the  eastern  waters  runs 
an  ancient  roadway.  This  was  first 
known  to  the  white  settlers  as  the  Mo- 
hawk warpath,  and  many  a  brave 
found  it  the  short  cut  to  the  happy 
hunting  grounds.  In  the  name  of  St. 
Croix,  for  a  junction  of  streams,  there 
is  the  single  trace  of  an  early  Jesuit 
missionary's  hopes. 

By  1744,  the  Hoosac  Mountains  be- 
came famous  in  the  military  operations 
in  New  England.  The  Mohawk  war- 
path, directly  over  the  modern  tunnel, 
was  becoming  rutted  with  the  wheels 
of  English  cannon,  while  captives  from 
Deerfield  and  Charlemont  fainted  on 
their  forced  marches  up  its  weary  stair, 
straight  and  unsoftened  by  any  engi- 


neering triumphs  of  zigzag  ap- 
proaches. 

By  1759,  the  year  of  Wolfe's  capture 
of  Quebec,  the  exigencies  of  the 
French  wars  had  made  necessary  the 
construction  of  a  rude  road  following 
this  trail.  The  western  gateway  of 
the  valley,  near  the  spot  where  twice 
rose  Fort  Massachusetts,  became  the 
Thermopylae  of  New  England,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  repeated  defeats  there 
of  Dutch,  French  and  Indians.  In 
1797  the  commonwealth  ordered  a  fine 
turnpike,  of  the  easy,  whiplash  type, 
built  over  the  mountain  across  the  east- 
ern end  of  the  trail,  but  by  1825  the 
abruptness  of  the  mountain's  slope  had 
worn  out  so  many  good  horses  and 
men  that  a  tunnelled  canal  uniting  Po- 
cumtuck and  Hoosac  waters  was  pro- 
posed. 

The  original  trail  was  still  open  in 
1848;  and  college  boys  often  ran  up 
and  down  it  ahead  of  the  lumbering 
Williamstown  stage.  It  was  trace- 
able in  1803.  There  was  an  inn  during 


Wt  Guard  the  Western  Gateway 


stage  days  where  the  paths  crossed  at 
the  top  of  the  mountain,  "way  up  there, 
out  of  sight  of  land,"  and  near  a  typi- 
cal New  England  school  house.  On 
a  sign  board,  which  once  stood  at  the 
loot  of  the  trail,  the  traveller  read, 
"Walk  up,  if  you  please,"  and  on  an- 
other at  the  summit,  "Ride  down,  if 
you  dare."  In  the  heyday  of  staging 
four  milk  white  horses  drew  motley 
humanity  and  its  baggage  over  the 
mountain.  There  still  lingers  the  mem- 
ory of  the  last  of  the  stage  drivers  of 
the  '50's,  Morris  Carpenter.  I  once 
sat  on  his  garden  wall  in  the  twilight 
looking  down  over  the  Hoosacs  to  the 
Berkshires  and  heard  strange  tales  of 
his  turnpike  days.  Much  wealth  at 
one  time  and  another  passed  over  this 
east  and  west  thoroughfare ;  and  some 
of  the  "hold-ups"  became  famous  in 
the  legends  of  the  road.  One  night  in 
mid-summer  Carpenter,  armed  to  the 
teeth,  had  just  rounded  the  ledge  at 
the  summit  going  west,  when,  in  the 
moonlight  suddenly  appeared  two  fig- 


ures covering  his  approach  with  four 
enormous  pistols.  Under  the  circum- 
stances nothing  could  be  done  but  to 
parley.  The  knights  of  the  road  be- 
lieved that  there  was  a  clear  ten  thou- 
sand in  booty  or  ransom  inside  the 
stage.  But  when  upon  thorough  in- 
vestigation a  few  half-empty  bottles 
were  all  they  could  find,  they  refused 
to  take  the  gentlemen's  small  change, 
broke  the  bottles  over  the  passengers' 
heads,  and  wishing  them  God-speed 
and  a  good  surgeon,  departed.  The  old 
driver  had  an  almost  sacred  memory 
of  the  still,  sunny  winter  days  on  the 
mountain.  In  his  seventieth  year  he 
could  not  speak  of  their  splendor  with- 
out emotion.  Then  there  were  days  of 
hurricane  and  cold  when  no  living 
thing  could  cross  the  ridges  of  the  hill. 
Legends  of  startling  blow-aways 
abound,  and  they  say  that  the  bells 
from  church  steeples  rolling  down 
the  ledges  at. midnight  made  fiendish 
music  above  the  roar  of  the  tempest. 
There    is   a    reminiscence,    almost   the 


n8 


-4i> 


1875      "" "WHS^f/       1901 

Giant  Strides  by  a 

Giant  Company 

LIFE  INSURANCE  written  and  placed  during  1901, over  273  Millions 

PAID  POLICY-HOLDERS,  in  26  years,  over      .     .  58  Millions 

ASSETS,  end  of  1901,  over 4-8  Millions 

LIABILITIES,  less  than 42  Millions 

SURPLUS,  nearly 7  Millions 

INCOME,  during  1901,  nearly 29  Millions 

PAID  POLICY-HOLDERS,  during  1901,  over    .    .  8  Millions 

Policies  in  Force  nearly  Ah  Millions. 

Covering  Life  Insurance  of  over 

$703,000,000 

SURROUNDING  WITH  ABSOLUTE  PROTECTION 

More  Than  One  Million  Families 

A  Progressive  Company  in  which  the  Safety 
and  Advancement  of  Its  Policy-Holders' 
interests  are  the  chief  considerations. 

Write  for  Information  to  Dept.  1 4 

THE  PRUDENTIAL 

Insurance  Co.  of  America 

JOHN  F.  DRYDEN,  President.  HOME  OFFICE:  Newark,  N.  J. 


VOSP  pianos 

V    ^J  W^^^       VOSE  A  SONS  P 


hare  been  established  SO  YEARS.  By  our  system  of  payments* 
•rv  family  in  moderate  circumstances  can  own  a  VOSE  piano.  1 
take  old  instruments  in  exchange  and  deliver  the  new  piano  iny< 
bom*  Ire*  of  expense.    Writ*  for  Catalogue  D  and  explanatio 

PIANO  CO.,  160  Boylston  St.,  Boston,  Masj. 


NEW  YORK'S^ 

HANDIESTHOTEL    / 

I  THE 

GRAND  A 

'UNION 


42D  ST.  &  PARK  AVE  .  NEW  YORK 

Opposite  the  Grand  Centra/  Depot 

European  Plan.  Rates  $i.oo  per  Day  and  Up 

Within  easy  reach  of  the  theatres  and  shopping  dis- 
trict. Reached  by  all  the  principal  street-car  lines  of 
New  York,  the  GXAND  UMON  HOTEL  is  ac- 
knowledged the  most  convenient  and  accessible  hotel 
in  the  city. 

FINE  CAFE  AND  RESTAURANT 
Cood  Rooms  Moderate  Charges 


"Only  a  Little  Hoarse- 
ness." 

Better  cure  the  "  hoarseness  "  or 
the  cold  may  settle  on  your  lungs. 
You  can  cure  it  at  once  if  you  take 

Hale's 

Honey  of 

Horehound 

and  Tar 

Sold  by  druggists.  25c.  50c.  and 
#1.00  per  bottle.  Largest  size 
cheapest.  Use  it  through  the  day 
when  you  first  notice  your  voice  is 
husky.  It's  convenient  to  take. 
It  won't  disturb  your  digestion  and 
is  palatable.  Be  sure  and  get 
HALE'S. 

Pike's  Toothache  Drops  Cnre  in  One  Minnte. 


^s^ssg*^ 


SL 


^AKERm 

BREAKFAST  COCOA 

has  the  largest  safe  in  the  United 
States,  because  ifyiefds  the  most 
and  best  for  fhe  money #s>m  &&* 

NOTE  THE  TRADEMARK  ON  EVERY  CAN 

WALTER  BAKER  6  CO.1-™ 

J 


established  i7so  as    0O/lCtt£STER,  MASS . 


HOTEL  EMPIRE 

Broadway  and  63d  St.,  N.  Y.  CIT 


Absolutely  Fireproof. 
European  Plan  Exclusively. 

Don't  pay  exorbitant  rates  at  old  hotels. 
Here  we  offer  you  everything  modern  at 

MODERATE   RATES. 

Travelers  can,  on  crossing  any  of  the  ferries,  take  t 
9th  Avenue- Elevated  Kail  way  to"  59th  St.,  from  which  il 
one  minute's  walk  to  Hotel. 

From  Grand  Central  Station  take  Broadway  and  7th  Ai 
carsf  seven  minutes  to  Hotel  Emi'IRK. 

From  the  Fall  River  Boats  take  the  9th  Ave.  Elevated 
;>9th  St. 

Within  ten  minutes  of  amusement  and  shopping  centn 

All  cars  pass  the  Empire. 

Send  postal  for  descriptive  booklet. 

W.  JOHNSON   QUINN,   Proprietor. 


n 


